Because the Internet evolved from the ARPAnet, a research experiment that supported the exchange of data between government contractors and (often academic) researchers, an on-line culture developed that is alien to the corporate business world. The Internet was not designed to make commercialization easy.
Transaction Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) is the communications standard between hosts on the Internet. TCP/IP defines the basic format of the digital data packets on the Internet allowing programs to exchange information with other hosts on the Internet.
Domain names direct where e-mail is sent, files are found, and computer resources are located. They are used when accessing information on the WWW or connecting to other computers through Telenet. Internet users enter the domain name, which is automatically converted to the Internet Protocol address by the Domain Name System (DNS). The DNS is a service provided by TCP/IP that translates the symbolic name into an IP address by looking up the domain name in a database.
The World Wide Web (WWW) is one of the newest Internet services. The WWW allows a user to access a universe of information which combines text, audio, graphics and animation within a hypermedia document. Links are contained within a WWW document which allows simple and rapid access to related documents. The WWW was developed to provide researchers with a system that would enable them to quickly access all types of information with a common interface, removing the necessity to execute a variety of numerous steps to access the information. During 1991, the WWW was released for general usage with access to hypertext and UseNet news articles. Interfaces to WAIS, anonymous FTP, Telnet and Gopher were added. By the end of 1993 WWW browsers with easy to use interfaces had been developed for many different computer systems.
UseNet is a network of news groups on thousands of different topics which allow the on-line discussion through the posting of individual messages (articles) which can be read by participants. An article is similar to an e-mail message, having a header, message body and signature.
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) provides a network equivalent of an old telephone party line. IRC is accessed through an Internet connection. This permits the user to chat with users all over the world about hundreds of different subjects at any time. In a way, its as if the UseNet newsgroups were a live discussion rather than postings. The interactive nature of IRC with multiple users makes long, detailed chats difficult to maintain. IRC users may send private messages to each other as well as start a private chat with several users.
The first step in an IRC session is for the local user IRC Client to connect to the IRC Server. The IRC is a lot like a text-based conference call. On IRC, each individual conference is called a channel. There are several hundred channels on IRC with each channel loosely related to a subject matter. Every channel has a current topic which may be viewed to determine what is currently being discussed. When joining a channel, it's like walking into a room full of people talking to each other, sometimes with several conversations going on at once. In addition to chatting on a channel which is broadcast to everyone on that channel, IRC provides a way to enter into a private chat as well as send private notices. IRC basically allows anyone to join and participate, as individuals are not invited to join, resulting in a very crowded channel.
A number of Internet phone software products offer voice capabilities in real time over the Internet. Internet phoneware vendors typically provide their own directory servers, organized by topic as well as by name. Voice quality varies from moment to moment. Such variations are due to the processing delay that results from encoding and decoding the conversation as well as the inherent delay of the Internet, which varies according to the amount of traffic at any given time and the route through which the signal must travel.
Desire for private secure anonymous voice communications has evolved as a result of concern for personal security and privacy. Voice mail boxes accessed through a 900 telephone number can allow users to select a conversation and even reply without ever actually knowing the full identity of the individuals engaged in the conversation. However the 900 telephone number voice mail boxes are more analogous to e-mail and news group postings than to chat groups, as they do not provide interactive real time conversations.
Individuals within chat groups, news groups and even e-mail is frequently identified by nick names, handles or simply account names. In a non business environment, rarely is an individuals actual legal name posted or even known. Current events have shown the extreme value that is placed upon personal security and privacy. There are many reasons why a user wants to be able to post Usenet articles anonymously. They may want to post to a controversial group, or may not want their employer to know about their postings. An anonymous posting service protects the rights of any user to say whatever they want without fear of retribution. Once a user posts through such a service, they can receive replies from other users who do not know their identity.
Accordingly, there is a need for providing anonymous real time communication links for secure private conversations.